A Winter in Wisconsin
by NotMarge
Summary: Madison, Wisconsin. 1947. Fraulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities has extended its stay a little too long & lost their Tampa spot for the winter. Twenty year old Jimmy Darling & his troupe are about to experience their first winter together. Inspired by Jimmy's story reference in 'Test of Strength'. Drama, humor, & maybe some angst all rolled up into a wintery wonderland.
1. October Optimism

I do not own American Horror Story: Freak Show.

But I would like to have a little fun here.

A Winter in Wisconsin

October Optimism

* * *

"Tampa has fallen through."

Elsa's heavily accented words fell like bricks on their heads, stunning them so that they could not comprehend or respond.

They stared at her and at each other under the tented roof of the big top.

Paul the Illustrated Seal, Amazon Eve, Jimmy the Lobster Boy, Ethel the Bearded Lady, Meep, and Pinheads Salty and Pepper stood in a confused herd of freakish collection, starting at Elsa Mars, reining German queen of the freak show. Toulouse, Legless Suzi, and Ma Petite stood atop the long eating table, their faces agawk at their employer.

It was Jimmy who found the words to speak first.

"What? What does that _mean_, Elsa?"

Their aging, strawberry blond boss sighed, squared her blue suited shoulders, and gave not an inch.

"What do you think it means, idiot _boy_? It means we have no place to go for the _winter_! It means we are going to lose _money_!"

They looked around at each other.

The members of Fraulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities _always_ went south to Florida for the winter.

It was what they did.

Traveled north to a different location every April and returned to Florida at the end of every September when the weather started to turn.

Except this one.

They'd been bringing in a good steady house several nights a week all summer. So Elsa'd seen the opportunity to rake in some extra dough and extended their stay by a whole month.

Which now in retrospect, might have been a mistake.

Ethel, the Bearded Lady, spoke up first, sounding mildly alarmed.

"Elsa, it gets _cold_ up here!"

Elsa huffed, irritated by the support and loyalty she desired not being automatically handed to her.

"_What_, are my babies not tough enough to deal with a little chill? Must you always have things just _so_?"

Ethel soothed her tone, trying to both be a voice of reason.

"But, Elsa, I'm just saying we don't have the supplies we _need_ for this."

The German dame stomped her foot impatiently.

"Then send the Seal and the Lobster into _town_ for some!"

Jimmy clenched his jaw, trying not to flinch at her crass identification of him, well aware she was only throwing _another_ childish tantrum. He glanced over at Paul and saw his cool blue eyes steel as well.

Ethel glanced over at her son and the older, heavily tattooed man next to him. They met her gaze and Paul nodded briefly and turned away, popping Jimmy on the shoulder with his elongated fingers.

"Come on, Jimmy, we'll handle this straight away, mate."

* * *

"We're going to need a lot of stuff. Northern winters can be brutal without a solid house to take shelter in."

Jimmy glanced at him nervously, trying to keep his gaze focused on the road stretching out before their old truck puttering along.

"Really?"

Paul nodded grimly and spoke, his voice low and dark.

"Yeah, folks get funny ideas when they get trapped in the cold for a long time. I've even heard tell they resort to cannibalism when they get _really_ desperate."

Jimmy's dark eyes widened in alarm, as he imagined various members of the troupe sitting at their long table, dining on arms and legs of their fellows, sipping from goblets of their chilled blood.

A bark of laughter broke through his dark reverie and Jimmy turned, baffled, to the man in the passenger seat of the truck.

Paul's face was strangely jovial, considering he'd just been ruminating on a winter of forced human flesh-eating.

"Oh, don't worry, mate! I was just having a laugh! We'll be _fine_!"

Jimmy smiled hesitantly, still trapped in thoughts of Legless Suzi ribs and Salty steaks.

"Besides," Paul continued, still more puckishly. "Ma Petite would take all of us down first. Have you _seen_ her put away hotcakes?"

Jimmy did laugh then and they continued their drive into town for their supplies.

* * *

"Okay, what've we got so far, Jimmy?"

Jimmy Darling perused the boxed items already stacked in the truck bed, touching them with his mittened hands.

"Matches, batteries, lantern oil, blankets, ice picks, snow shoes . . ." he trailed off momentarily. "Do you really think we need all this stuff? Elsa's gonna have a fit when she sees how much money we spent."

Paul barely gave him a glance.

"Trust me, mate, when it gets cold, we won't have _enough_ stuff to keep from freezing."

Jimmy scoffed, an eyebrow raised.

"Ah, come on, Paul. How cold can it get?"

Paul huffed and didn't reply to the question. He stared fixedly at their dilapidated truck.

"We really _should_ have snow tires, but . . ."

Jimmy blinked.

"What are snow tires?"

Paul snorted laughter and clapped Jimmy on the shoulder good-naturedly.

"You're going to have loads of fun this winter, mate!"

And off he went laughing, oblivious to the open stares he was receiving from the locals.

Jimmy followed him, completely bewildered.

* * *

"You spent _how_ much?"

Elsa's face was turning a searing shade of red and she seems to be sputtering uncontrollably.

Paul held his ground.

"Elsa, love, you've been around the block. You know how bad the cold can get when you're in the elements."

Elsa continued to glare at the short-armed man.

He smiled winningly.

"Besides not everybody shares your . . . talent . . . for staying warm."

The tone in Paul's smooth voice and the sudden gleam in Elsa's piercing eyes made Jimmy suddenly decided to head to the mess tent to see what Suzi had cooked up.

_Don't want to see that. Nope. Do _not_ want to go blind._

* * *

Jimmy walked the short distance to the mess tent, looking around the fantastic array of colors in the trees.

_It's so pretty up here_. _So many colors. Like a painting or something._

He'd seen the leaves starting to turn in falls years before. But they'd always left before it really burst into autumn fire.

His light jacket protected him from the light chill in the air as his boots crunched across the random leaves strewn in his path.

_Maybe this won't be so bad. I mean, this is nice. How bad can it really get?_

* * *

**Hello, sweeties!**

**Interested in reading this? 'Cause I'm sure having fun writing it. ****Got several chapters lined up for different events.**

**Expect short, easy chapters and not too much heavy material. And hey, let me know what you think or would like to see, yeah? **

**Check out the pic by the way. I found it on google images. I don't know who drew it, but it's adorable! So thank you to the most talented artist, whose name I could not read on the pic. I think it started with a 'j'.**

**Everybody appreciates feedback. Leave a review if you like.**


	2. Something Normal

I do not own American Horror Story: Freak Show.

But I would like to have a little fun here.

A Winter in Wisconsin

Something Normal

* * *

The weather stayed moderately chilly for several weeks afterward. As if reassuring them that their winter in the north would be an easy ride, a welcome change in their yearly routine. In the daytime, the sometimes cloudy, sometimes clear conditions gave forth temperatures of sixties, dropping down to fifties, sometimes all the way down to forties. When the sun went away in the evenings, it was a bit colder. All the way down to the twenties.

Colder than Jimmy'd ever experienced in his short life.

Still, it seemed to be pretty manageable.

_Ah, I can handle this. Jeez, is this all Paul was talking about? Just an opportunity to wear my gloves without attracting attention. _

Then one morning several hours after sunrise as they were all shivering in the mess tent, it was clear the warmth had finally fled and wasn't coming back.

And some people were rather put out about it.

"Jimmy, all the water's frozen!"

Evie, her tall, imposing stature slumped in defeat onto a bench, pouting terribly.

Paul, ever resourceful and ever of jovial manner, offered his help.

"Whiskey's still wet."

She turned on him, towering over him, her face growing redder by the second.

"Paul, I am _not_ washing my hair in _whiskey_!"

Legless Suzi atop a table, wrapped tightly in her thickest coat and hat, sipped on a cup of bitter joe before responding.

"You shouldn't be washing your hair at all in this weather. It'll likely freeze and break off."

Eve folded her arms defiantly, glaring at her friend.

"Suzi, I don't have _money_ for that fancy dry shampoo. Besides, it's _disgusting_. And I can't afford a salon!"

Evie looked ready to burst into tears. Jimmy grinned at her as he bolted down the rest of his meager breakfast.

'Aw, don't cry, Evie. Come on, I'll help you wash your hair. I bet even Ma Petite will help if we ask her."

Amazon Eve sniffed pitifully and offered a hopeful smile.

"Really?"

Jimmy shrugged, smiling his dimple at her.

"Sure, why not?"

* * *

Eve's trailer was very femininely decorated, just like her. It smelled good too.

Jimmy didn't know trailers could smell that nice.

Eve sat, a towel under her neck, leaning back in a chair. Her long dark hair streaming wet dripped into the disconnected sink. A large bowl of clean river water stood next to her on the counter. It was slightly tepid from being heated on the stove minutes before. They couldn't afford the energy output to heat it as much as they would have preferred.

Jimmy leaned over her right side, running his fused fingers all through her hair and rubbing her scalp the way Ma used to do for him when he was very young.

Ma Petite stood on the counter to Eve's left, drying sections of hair with a towel as soon as Jimmy thoroughly rinsed them.

Eve's eyes were closed. She sighed appreciatively, her entire body relaxing.

'You've got great hands, Jimmy.'

He smiled a little.

"Thanks."

They worked in quiet for a few minutes. Well, mostly quiet. Ma Petite's tuneless humming was so high-pitched Jimmy could barely hear it.

Then he spoke up again, almost talking more to himself than to either woman present.

"It's just nice to do something . . . normal with them sometimes."

Neither female replied. Eve knew of his occasional side gig but Jimmy didn't know if Ma Petite did. He really preferred her not.

"Do you . . . like it?" Eve asked.

He didn't respond for a moment. Hesitant to talk in front of Ma Petite.

"Well, I don't know," he tried to keep his tone casual. "They are _girls_. And they are . . . you know . . ."

He trailed off, shrugging. He had lots of mixed emotions about it. Finally he chose the easiest answer.

"And I get paid. It's a win-win, I guess. Everybody goes home happy."

She looked at him, her gentle spirit attuned to his confliction.

"I know, Jimmy."

She blindly patted his hand and gazed at him, her handsome face kind. He could see in her dark eyes that she wanted more out of this life for him, more for herself.

Ma Petite appeared not to take notice of their conversation at all, continuing her gentle toweling in silence.

When they finished washing and drying Eve's hair, Ma Petite slowly and skillfully plaited it in an intricate braid. Jimmy stood next to her, arms folded across his chest, watching in admiration.

_Wow, that's amazing. It's almost like art or something._

Suddenly Ma Petite turned to him and laid a tiny hand on his chest near his heart. She spoke slowly so as to be absolutely understood.

"You are more than your hands. They are not everything you are. You are this too."

Then she moved her hand from his chest to tenderly stroke his cheek with soft fingers as she seemed to stare into his soul.

Jimmy felt his eyes sting as his heart swelled.

_Washing hair does not make me cry. Stop it._

Ma Petite dropped her hand then and turned to her tallest friend, touching the freshly completed braid lightly.

"I am done. It will stay clean a long time now and not feel so greasy."

Eve got up and looked at herself in the mirror. She gasped in thrilled surprise, her hands flying to her face.

"Oh, Ma Petite, it's _beautiful_! Thank you!"

Jimmy watched with a smile as the exuberant woman swept Ma Petite up in a hug that made the tiny girl giggle and squeal.

Then without putting Ma Petite down, Eve leaned over and kissed Jimmy on the cheek.

"Thank you, Jimmy. It was your idea after all."

He gave her a lopsided grin as she fussed over her new appearance for another moment or two. Then they rebundled themselves up in preparation for their triumphant return outside. Jimmy handed Eve her hat but she stuffed it into a coat pocket.

"Evie, your head's gonna get cold."

She waved her hand dismissively.

"It'll be worth it to show this off. At least for a few minutes anyway," she gushed.

* * *

Paul met them as they walked through the chilly air.

"Lovely 'do, Eve."

Then he turned on Jimmy, a twinkle in his blue eyes.

"So, you going to start cooking now too, mate?"

Before Jimmy could retaliate Paul's tease, Eve offered a coy smile to the Englishman.

"Of the two of you, which one has made a buxom young woman sigh in pleasure today?"

Paul blinked in surprise. Jimmy snorted laughter as Evie winked at him. And Ma Petite rolled her eyes good-naturedly at them all.

* * *

**Wow! I really didn't expect to have such positive feedback here. But I appreciate you all ever so much! :D**

**Why have Jimmy and Ma Petite wash Eve's hair instead of her doing it herself? I dunno. Why do anything, right?**

**And I know Evie doesn't have super long hair in the show, but maybe she did back then. **

**Thanks to the1upguy, brigid1318, Jurana Keri, and my two mystery guests for reviewing. **

**Thanks as well to DelaneyP12, Psychopathic Kitty, TwilightNewMoonEclipseMidnight (twilight fan I take it? *winks), and emilyrugburn for adding your support to this wintery tale.**

**And finally, for my concerned mystery guest, no, there will be no Maggie here. This story takes place four years before our Freak Show episodes.**


	3. Heck of an Alarm Clock

I do not own American Horror Story: Freak Show.

But I would like to give them some fun here.

Winter in Wisconsin

Heck of an Alarm Clock

* * *

Jimmy Darling woke up to bright whiteness glaring in from the outside. He groaned, rolled over, and buried his face in his bare, pale blue striped pillow and pulled one of his several blankets over his head.

_Why is it so _bright_? Why is the sun so _angry_ this morning?_

The demanding light momentarily vanquished, Jimmy resolutely closed his eyes and started to drift off again.

For about five minutes.

"JIMMY! _JIMMY_! _**JIMMY**_!"

A rapid banging resounded on the trailer door and Jimmy jerked violently, nearly falling out of his bunk.

His heart slammed to a stop, then kickstarted so painfully that he felt it in his fused toe hairs.

_Oh crap, has someone been eaten by a _bear_?_

Fighting his way free of the small mountain of blankets, save one wrapped tightly around his scrawny frame, Jimmy staggered to his feet, wearing two long sleeved shirts, long johns, pants, _and_ double socks.

Jerking open the trailer door, he peered owlishly at the unusually tall, heavily coated, somewhat disheveled woman standing before him.

"Evie, what?! What the h-"

His voice trailed off as he refocused from her to the shocking scene surrounding the formidable female wearing an enormous smile.

_Whoa . . . so that's why it's so bright . . ._

Everything, absolutely everything, the _entire_ camp, was blanketed in at least a foot of solid, glistening, white powder.

Jimmy stood shivering and puffing icy, white mists from his hanging mouth.

_Oh, it's . . . it's . . . beautiful . . ._

His heartbeat rushed into his ears, renewed and pounding, even as Eve's excited voice cut through his snow induced haze.

"Oh Jimmy, isn't it a _gorgeous_ sight?! I've only ever seen dustings that couldn't cover a tire track, but this . . ."

But she was excitedly yammering to thin air, as Jimmy had disappeared from the doorway to dump his blanket and fetch his heavy boots, gloves, and thick coat. Reappearing, he slammed the door shut and stomped down the steps, jamming a flapeared hat on his tousled blond head.

They crunched side by side through the snow drifts, staring openly in awe at the white magical wonder before them.

Suddenly, Jimmy stopped, holding up his hand for Eve to do the same. She did, with a questioning expression on her handsome face.

They stood silent and still for a moment, Jimmy straining his ears for the sound again.

Then it came.

High pitched and thin as a satin ribbon, wafting through the still quiet air.

Jimmy cocked his head, his dark eyes staring several feet past the covered ground, trying to pin down the direction of the hauntingly familiar sound.

"Oh _crap_!"

He broke and ran, tall Amazon Eve easily keeping pacing at his side. The sound got louder.

"Help! Help! I can't get out! Help!"

Arriving at his destination, he called into the small tent.

"Hey, it's Jimmy! I'm here. Are you okay?"

He opened the flaps carefully and saw her standing just inside the entrance in her tiny coat and thick boots, shivering, with tears running down her tiny, doll-like face.

She reached up for him pitifully and he stepped over the piled up snowdrift to reach down for her.

"Oh, Ma Petite, it's okay! Please don't cry! I got you!"

He held her diminutive frame close to him easily in one arm as he carefully wiped away her freezing tears.

She sniffed, gave him one of her beatific smiles, and then hugged him with all her tiny might.

"I was scared and cold and couldn't get out. You saved me."

He kissed her forehead high above her bindi and wrapped her up inside his big coat for extra warmth.

"Better?" he asked softly, smiling her his dimple.

She nodded and laid her tiny head on his shoulder. He gently laid his head down comfortingly on hers.

"Come on, let's get you outta here, Ma Petite."

Their snuggly duo didn't last long as the overwrought Eve let out a cry of dismay and dug her gloved hands painfully into Jimmy's chest as she pulled the Indian princess into her own embrace.

"Oh, Ma Petite, I'm so sorry! I never should have left you! I didn't know it would snow so much!"

And off she went with Ma Petite in her arms, rambling on and on into the frigid air. Ma Petite glanced back and waved, a big smile painting her dusky face.

_I love that little broad, _Jimmy thought affectionately.

He raised a gloved hand and waved back, smiling fondly at the tallest and smallest women he'd ever laid eyes on.

_You know, she's so sweet, if she was bigger, I think I'd want her to be my girl. _

He smirked inwardly at his own ridiculousness.

_That's stupid, Lobster Boy. She'd never go for you no matter what size she was. Still, I guess I'll be happy with a little sister Indian princess._

Jimmy Darling turned away, imagining for just a moment a less petite Ma Petite holding his deformed hand and smiling her special smile at him.

Then hit a hidden patch of ice, slipped, and fell backwards right onto his butt.

* * *

**I hope that Ma Petite/Jimmy thing seemed sweet and not creepy. He's just tenderhearted for the kind ones I think, even then. **

**Plus, it sets up for a little Christmas gift later on. You can probably guess. ;)**

**Once again, all delighted for the positive reception this story is receiving. Generous people, you are. Thank you!**

**Thanks to the1upguy, brigid1318, Juarana Keri , my mystery guest (quick enough update for ya?), and AHSFan for reviewing.**

**Thanks to YoullFindMeInWonderland (okay, I'll send out a search party, love) and ravenclaws (honestly, if you like Harry Potter, go read her Glideroy Lockhart fic, it's supercool) for adding your support to this story.**


	4. Snowballs and Scrimshaws

I do not own American Horror Story: Freak Show.

But I would like to have a little fun here.

A Winter in Wisconsin

Snowballs and Scrimshaws

* * *

"What are you idiots doing?"

Jimmy turned toward the sound of the heavily accented voice and was immediately pelted in the back of the tobogganed head . . .

_"_Snow_ball!"_

. . . by a snowball from Salty. He heard Pepper explode into guffaws of laughter as he shook his head, good-naturedly yelling something incoherent over his shoulder before managing to refocus on the figure in front him.

"Oh hey, Elsa!" he welcomed jovially. "Wanna come play?"

She glared at him and pulled her heavy coat tighter around herself as he grinned at her mischievously.

"No, of course not," she snootily retorted. "It's much too cold for this sort of childish nonsense."

Jimmy simply grinned cheekily as yet another snowball bounced off the back of his knee and Meep hooted in victory somewhere behind him.

"Ah, come on, Elsa," he cajoled. "Most of us never seen real snow before this morning. It's _fun_!"

She smirked at him, her eyes like bits of sharpened diamond.

"You won't think it's fun when you get frostbite on those monstrous little fingers and toes of yours, Lobster Boy!"

That gave him pause. Not her harsh critique of his deformities, he'd been putting up with that for years as her stand-by assault for anyone who defied her.

"What's frostbite?"

She smiled wider and waggled her pink gloved hands at him.

"It's when your extremities get so cold that you lose feeling in them," she purred, with dark pleasure.

The sounds of ensuing frivolities behind him seemed to fade from Jimmy's ears as he gazed at her lithe figure standing in the snow.

"Then they turn sickly pale and white . . ."

He sensed his other friends gathering a little closer to hear the gloom and doom of the great Elsa Mars.

"And then if you don't stop its advance, it goes all the way to the _bone_ and causes the flesh to _die _and turn black," Elsa hissed. "Then you've got nothing else to do but . . ."

She drew a quick cutting motion across the palm of her hand and Jimmy practically felt them all flinch. Elsa grinned wickedly at her rapt audience.

". . . cut the dead parts off before your body starts to _rot_ with gangrene."

All the snowplay had ceased now and the freezing air was still and quiet. Jimmy heard a trembly little 'meep' from somewhere around him but he didn't bother to look for the no doubt terrified little man.

Instead, he cautiously wiggled his fused fingers and toes in their bindings, counting each one in turn as he felt them move.

A triumphant Elsa Mars raised an eyebrow at them, her grim victory nearly complete.

Until Jimmy Darling threw her another winning grin and a dashing wink.

"Nope! Got 'em all!"

And Pepper crowed out, "Snow_ball_!"

As a white ball of powder dashed against the Boss Lady's heavily coated bosom.

The entire group gasped as Pepper clapped her mittened hands in glee and Salty juddered caperishly in delight and laughter.

Elsa Mars' shocked face turned dark and vengeful.

"Now you listen to _me_, you stupid little bas-"

She took a step as if to advance toward the thickly bundled pinheads but at that moment, another voice cut through the fray.

"Miss Elsa! I've drawn you a nice, hot bath!"

The sputtering German woman turned and saw a warmly bearded Ethel waving at her from the direction of the bath tent.

The heavyset woman gestured with an outstretched hand.

"Come on now, dear. Don't want it to get cold, now do we? Where'd be the point in that?"

Fraulein Elsa Maras threw a scathing look at her gathered freaks, brushed the snow off of her front, and turned dismissively away. With as much dignity as she could muster, she traversed the snowy ground toward her hot bath. When she passed by Ethel, the bearded lady watched her go and then turned for the merest of seconds to give her son a meaningful look.

_Just saved your royal dumbness, son. _

_I know, Ma. Thanks._

Jimmy watched her go and then turned back to his friends, resuming his jubilant demeanor.

"Great hit, Pep-"

And took another shot straight to the face.

"Snow_ball_!"

* * *

They were still outside. Freezing but still unwilling to give up the sight of the white washed land of sparkling beauty before them.

Only there now there were no flying snowballs and they sat, holding steaming coffee cups in their covered hands to warm their iced innards.

"Man, I'm hungry. Why am I so _hungry_?"

Legless Suzi tilted her head at him from her spot atop the table.

"'Cause it burns lots of energy to stay warm in this weather, honey," she responded lightly. "A carny I knew once told me once that Eskimos further north eat whale blubber to stay alive."

Jimmy looked at her, puzzled.

She rolled her eyes.

"Whale fat, Jimmy. Jeez!"

Paul sipped from his rapidly cooling coffee before joining in the conversation.

"Yeah, and then they make scrimshaw out of the oosik."

Jimmy now turned his baffled expression over to the short armed man.

"What's scrimshaw?"

Paul made writing motions in the air with his tattooed fingers.

"Drawings, scratchings, made with a thin knife."

Jimmy remained quiet,carefully considering this new information. Paul hummed to himself a little. Legless Suzi and Amazon Eve wandered off together to a moderately warmer trailer, leaving the two men alone.

Finally Jimmy looked back up at Paul who was staring mildly at the sparkling chandeliers of crystallized trees.

"Well, what's 'oosik'?"

The handsome man grinned devilishly before responding.

"Whale ding-dong bone, mate."

Jimmy goggled at him and Paul chuckled again.

"Are you _kidding_ me?"

Paul shook his head, dangerously close to laughing the liquid from his cup onto the snowy ground.

"No! They're _really_ valuable too. People pay good money for 'em!"

Then leaning closer to Jimmy, he whispered something that made the younger man almost fall over.

"Speakin' of which, you wouldn't think it to look at me, but I'm not doing too bad myself."

Jimmy stared at him, so unable to blink he thought his eyelids might have frozen open.

"Huh?"

Paul gave him a lopsided grin.

"I'm a tripod."

Jimmy raised his eyebrows as if to say 'I must be misunderstanding'.

"Really?' he asked, so shocked that he was unaware that he might be accidently insulting his friend. "You?"

Paul didn't seemed put out. He shrugged casually and leaned back, closing his eyes.

"What can I tell you, mate? Life's a lottery."

And Jimmy Darling sat dazed, wondering if the snow had finally gone to his head.

* * *

**On the first part, you know, I think Elsa's honestly trying to warn them about frostbite. She's just too of a witch to do it any other way. *Facepalm***

**Thank you to InkMaster and Dave Navarro for explaining oosik and scrimshaw to me. I feel so pointlessly educated now.**

**And the other part? Okay, honestly, I didn't **_**mean**_** to see it. I wasn't **_**looking**_** for it but for something else entirely. But I did see it. And holy crap on a cracker.**

**So now that I've seared your brains, please allow me to offer my heartfelt thanks to brigid1318, Juarana Keri, and the1upguy for continuing to write those enthusiastic reviews. **

**Yeah, I think Jimmy might have a little toe fusion going on as it's common among those with finger syndactyly. But it doesn't seem to be slowing him down any, does it? **

**Well, my dear brigid1318, vestiphobia is a fear of clothing, as you probably already know. So does that make fear of flip flops 'thong-vestiphobia'? XD**


	5. Sky Full of Stars

I do not own American Horror Story: Freak Show.

But I do want to have a little fun here.

A Winter in Wisconsin

Sky Full of Stars

* * *

It was cold. Freezing cold.

Colder than Jimmy'd ever imagined the world could be.

But he stayed where he was a moment longer, shivering and trembling in the frozen, forgotten field outside of the camp.

Because above his head, there was a whole other world.

And it was dark. And wide. And full of stars.

There were too far many to count, all twinkling and shining and sparkling in the vast ocean of black sky that stretched all around him from horizon to horizon.

He felt like he was in a huge glass bowl and the sky was the dome lid, surrounding him on all sides.

Enveloping him, encasing him, enfolding him in a cosmic embrace of wonder and ponderings.

With the entire universe. All twinkling, shining, and sparkling and reaching out. To him.

So he could know, so he could _understand_ that there was more than just this.

That there was an infinite expanse of space and possibility.

He could be _anything_, he could be _anyone_.

He reflexively clenched his deformed hands in their thick, warm gloves.

His hands, they didn't matter anymore. He was more than just his hands, just like Ma Petite said.

His friends believed that about him, just as he believed that about them and their individual differences.

Someday, the world _would_ see that, would _understand_ that. As his friends did.

All Jimmy had to do was keep going until that day came.

Keep going and help keep the others going. That was the key. Taking care of each other, helping each other along.

That was what it _meant_ to be a good person.

It didn't matter what you had or didn't have. It mattered what you did with yourself.

And what you did for others.

What you showed them about yourself.

What you made yourself out to be.

What you _chose_ to be.

And Ma, ever since she'd dragged herself out of her alcoholic stupor with the help of the others, had raised him, guided him, to try to be that good person.

An example to the others. An encourager. A leader.

Jimmy listened and looked and felt with his entire being, with his entire _soul_.

At the stars. At the black, velvety sky. At the _world_.

He could hear the wolves far off, howling at the bright silver of moon overhead.

He loved the wild animals. He loved their base instincts, their brutality, their honesty.

Because it wasn't self-righteous or judgmental or discerning.

Wolves and bears and other predators didn't care if you were a freak or a normal person.

They just cared if you were lunch.

The howling drifted away and all fell silent once more. Maybe the wolves were on the move, taken hunt.

Maybe they had been captivated by the magic of stars as well.

Or maybe they were just tired of howling.

It didn't matter.

All was where it was and how it was and what it was.

The world was there. Silent and still, as if all the ugliness and harshness and hate had fallen asleep.

And the goodness and possibility was waiting to be reborn, awoken.

Jimmy Darling stared up and let the beauty and truth of it swallow him whole 'til it didn't matter what or who he was.

Only that he was in the middle of it.

He knew he'd feel differently in a few minutes when the magic abandoned him and he sheepishly wondered if he'd really been out here or just whiffing mist in the opium tent.

Or when he woke up in the morning and started another day of trudging through endless chores and frigid cold.

Or he might feel differently in five minutes when he slipped on a hidden patch of ice and fell down like an ungraceful baby deer, snow dumping itself down his neck and chilling his flesh even more.

But now, just for that moment, that one bright moment, none of that mattered. Because for now, just for now, all that mattered was the sky above him, so bright, so full of stars.

And the even brighter shining sliver of moon, hanging curved in the sky. Watching over the stars, keep track of them. Lending them power to shine even brighter, even more resilient than they had before.

Jimmy Darling shivered forcefully and resumed stomping his booted feet, abruptly brought back to the world as it actually was, as the cold wind sliced through his many layers. He shivered again, huffing out from his aching lungs freezing breath that puffed out before him in white, misting clouds.

_Man, I'm freezing. _

And he turned and headed back across the field toward the freak show camp.

Step by step, he felt the magic draining away like liquid mercury seeping out of his body through the heavy soles of his booted feet.

He felt it go slowly and dimly mourned its passing without really knowing what it was he was mourning or that he _was_ even mourning.

And replacing it was the return of reality, of self-conscious awareness.

Of the cold, cold, unforgiving world he had always known he existed in.

_Can't remember the last time I was really warm. _

He caught sight of a campfire burning in the darkness, several familiar figures huddled around it.

Maybe if he set his feet on fire, then he could get warm for a bit.

He wandered on over to check.

* * *

**Don't panic, children, don't panic. Of **_**course**_** Jimmy doesn't dance the hula in the middle of the campfire. That'd just be silly. Unless of course it **_**worked**_**.**

**And I am not under any sort of 'influence' here. It was dark and quiet and this chapter just told me to write it. And that's really all I can tell you.**

**Thanks to brigid1318 and Juarana Keri for still being vocal out there. and th****ank you as well to Psychopathic Kitty for such an encouraging PM. :D**


	6. Jimmy the Mountain Man

I do not own American Horror Story: Freak Show.

But I would like to have a little fun here.

A Winter in Wisconsin

Jimmy the Mountain Man

* * *

"What'd ya bring me now, Jimmy boy?"

He proudly held up his kill in the morning sunlight and the stout woman nodded appreciatively.

_Me, strong warrior. Kill savage beast. Grunt, grunt._

"A rabbit, huh?"

He nodded, a lopsided smile forming on his cold face.

"Well, good for you, Jimmy. You're getting better. They're hard to see and even harder to hit. Give it here."

The frozen Lobster Boy held out the carcass for her inspection. She peered at it, wiping her hands on her big cooking apron.

"I even drained too, like you told me."

She took the large rabbit from him.

"Good, the meat'll be better that way."

Then clearing her throat, she carefully wrapped her strong hands around the rabbit's neck and squeezed down its body like Jimmy'd seen Ma squeeze a tube of cake icing. Except she did it much faster and with much stronger motions. Jimmy heard the muffled cracking sounds of all of its ribs breaking and he flinched. She worked her way down its furry body rapidly and with expertise.

Then to Jimmy's utter shock, all the rabbit's insides came out of its backside like a really bad latrine visit. They fell to the snow at Martha's feet as Jimmy's jaw fell open on his face.

The woman had field dressed the entire rabbit without a knife in five seconds flat.

_I am _never_ making this woman angry._

She grabbed the vital organs up from the ground and lay them aside . . .

"Good eatin' there too," she muttered as much to herself as to him.

. . . for later use.

Then took Jimmy's further astonishment, she lay the rabbit on her cutting board and picked up a small, sharp knife. The gray-haired woman made a few quick, sure cuts and then peeled the hide off the rabbit like a woman discarding a pair of stockings.

_Ever. _

She tossed the hide down . . .

"See, Jimmy boy, just like peeling a banana."

_Goodbye, bananas,_ Jimmy thought numbly. _Oh well, always looked kinda like ding-dongs anyway._

. . . and proceeded to break down the meaty carcass.

The brown hide lay discarded in front of him and Jimmy found himself absently stroking the soft fur for comfort as he watched Martha dismember the once living, breathing creature into small bite-sized pieces and dump them into bowl of water.

She discarded the hideless head as well and the empty eyes seemed to stare at him judgmentally.

_Sorry, Thumper, I really am. But I'm hungry. We're all hungry. We need some meat. You're meat._

The eyes didn't blink. But Jimmy did as Martha dumped a heaping helping of small white grains into the bowl and swished it around a bit.

"What's that?" he asked curiously.

The cook didn't look up, intent on her work.

"Salt. Helps take down the gamey flavor."

Jimmy continued to stroke the fur, looking down at it speculatively.

_I bet that fur's warm. If I was smaller . . ._

"Can I take this?" he asked suddenly, indicting the pelt.

Martha shrugged disinterestedly.

If it wasn't something to cook, she didn't care.

* * *

He took the hide to his trailer and laid it out on the small, worn Formica countertop. Taking off his gloves in the chill solitude of the cracker box that was his home, Jimmy carefully inspected his treasure.

Martha'd done a great job with the disemboweling and dressing. There was hardly a scrap of leftover offings still clinging to the hide.

_She's either a wilderness expert or a serial killer._

He carefully scraped away a bit here and there with his field knife, but it was really quite clean. He touched it with his fused fingers.

_Moist, moist. What takes out moisture? What makes me dry?_

Jimmy bit his lip in concentration.

_Hmmm . . ._

Then he went back to Martha and, charming her with his dimpled grin, got hooked up with what he needed. And a stern directive not to let the Boss Lady know she was letting him take essential supplies.

Jimmy Darling returned to his experiment. And didn't let anybody, not even Ma, in his trailer for two whole weeks.

It woulda been weird.

_Ignore the dead rabbit, ladies and gents. Just a little side project, nothing to fear._

He also took tutelage from Martha on the magic of quick dressing rabbits. He wasn't very good and had to clean his boots several times.

But he improved.

"Stop _grimacing_ so much," she'd chide him. "You're not causing it any pain. It's dead."

She even showed him a method called the long snap. When Jimmy tried it, the rabbit wrapped around the pole at the wrong angle and the force sent the entrails once again out of its backside and this time bouncing off his chest. Shell-shocked with bile rising in his throat, Jimmy involuntarily shuddered from head to toe. And decided not to attempt it again.

Paul, however, thought it was a grand display and nearly froze his face off spurting tears of hilarity. Jimmy stalwartly ignored his jubilant friend as he stepped around the short armed man's shaking body . . .

"Oh come on, mate! Forget juggling balls, _this_ should be your new act! You could headline alongside Meep!"

. . . leaning quivering with laughter against the table.

* * *

**Yeah, I spent a while researching on Youtube how to field dress rabbits and cure their pelts. It was . . . educational to say the least. So this information is as accurate as I could write it without getting too gruesome. **

**Also, I know some people are against killing and eating animals and wearing their fur. I only point out they are roughing it in the wilderness and surviving off the land as much as possible. So it's acceptable.**

**Plus, it's story cannon, according to Jimmy. **

**I also gave them a different cook than Suzi so I could name her Martha like some bizarre Martha Stewart. Hee hee. Told you I wanted to have some fun. ;)**

**Thanks to brigid1318, the1upguy, partyperson25, and Psychopathic Kitty for your reviews :)**


	7. Warrior Princess & her Knave of Hearts

I do not own American Horror Story: Freak Show.

But I would like to have a little fun here.

A Winter in Wisconsin

The Warrior Princess and Her Knave of Hearts

* * *

With fantastic timing, the hide was cured just in time for him to offer his masterpiece to her on Christmas morning.

"Merry Christmas, Ma Petite!"

He tried not to look on too eagerly as she opened the box.

She peered at his present and then looked back up at him quizzically, her pretty dark eyes even brighter than usual. Jimmy resisted the urge to throw up.

_She's either going to love it or hate my guts._

Then she reached out a tiny delicate hand and stroked the soft brown fur.

"What is it, Jimmy?"

He took it out of the box and held it up for her inspection.

"It's a fur coat!"

The empty furry face remained, as well as the arms and legs. The inside was dry and clean. Luckily, the salt he had diligently rubbed on it every few days had worked beautifully to cure the hide, leaving the inside dry and smooth.

She peered at it for several moments and Jimmy held his breath, anxiously awaiting her response.

Then a big, beautiful smile lit up her entire face and she giggled.

The sound was high pitched and full of joy. Jimmy felt his own face breaking into a relieved grin.

"It's _beautiful_!" she squeaked and turned around for him to put it on her shoulders.

He carefully draped it over her tiny shoulders and gently over her head. She grasped the sides to close the front and turned around.

The intake of breath signaled everyone in the room beholding Ma Petite in all her glory.

A miniature warrior princess, proudly wearing the pelt of the fearsome, vanquished beast.

The long ears draped down on either side of her tiny head like earmuffs and the arms and legs hung by her sides as if in warm embrace.

Her long black braid lay coiled down her front, nestled in the soft fur.

"Jimmy, it's so _warm_!" she sang shrilly, making his heart swell with pride and happiness.

And she shuffled forward to hug him, reaching her tiny arms up toward his neck as tight as the day he'd rescued her from her frozen tent.

"This is the most wonderful gift in all the world!"

He carefully hugged her tiny frame.

"I'm glad you like it," he murmured, grinning.

She kissed his cheek with a audible smack.

"I love it!"

Ma Petite let go of him then and began walking carefully around the table, showing off her fur coat. The others clapped appreciatively. Evie looked over and winked at him knowingly and Jimmy felt his face growing even warmer.

"Come, my dear, let's have a closer look," Elsa beckoned, reached out with her crone's hands.

Ma Petite hesitated for just the briefest of moments and then did as she was bade.

Elsa ran her hands lightly over the coat, stroking its soft fur. For some reason, Jimmy didn't really want her to.

"Ah, you're quite the craftsman, Jimmy. I find it fascinating that you took such time and effort on such a . . . small little trinket."

_Oh, stuff it, you old broad. You're not ruining this moment._

Then Elsa's shark teeth shown in her cruel mouth and her eyes cut through him.

"I wonder, my boy, whenever you will find the time to make coats for those less . . . petitely natured amongst us . . ."

She trailed off, stroking the fur coat, glancing from Ma Petite to Jimmy and back again. Then her critical expression softened and she spoke more softly to her tiniest of freaks.

"How nice of Jimmy to take such good, gentle care of my sweet little princess, ja, Ma Petite?"

The little dusky woman glanced back at the craftsman himself with another sweet smile.

And nodded to Elsa Mars.

* * *

Ethel, the Bearded Lady, cornered her happy son later on that day in his trailer.

And he never saw it coming.

He should have.

His ma was a very direct woman.

"Jimmy, are you entertaining feelings for Ma Petite?"

Jimmy raised his eyebrows just a little at her cannonball of a statement. And tried not to drop the chicken head Meep had given him (and everyone else) for Christmas.

_Thank you, Ma. _

Then he shook his head, casually twirling the thin red ribbon the little weird guy had wrapped around the gory present.

"No."

Ethel Darling raised a doubting eyebrow at her lobster handed son.

"_Jimmy?"_

A grown, worldly man of the freak show circuit, Jimmy Darling still could not escape the soul-prying eyes of his whiskery mother.

He shrugged again, a little less confidently this time.

"I don't know, Ma. Maybe."

She sighed.

"Jimmy, I like her just as much as anybody here. But, son . . ."

She seemed to waver for just a moment, glancing around at his belongings as if arranging her words in her head before she set them free from her mouth.

". . . it just not . . . _physically_ possible."

Jimmy, the freak who sometimes serviced the ladies of the town with his fused fingers at their secret parties, felt his face redden in embarrassment.

"Ma, _jeez_!"

She pursed her mouth and seemed to force herself to continue.

"Well, it's true!"

Jimmy grimaced.

"Ma, _no_! I know she's not . . . it's not like . . ."

He trailed off helplessly for a moment. He didn't want to think of Ma Petite _that_ way.

She was different from the rest of them. She was innocent and untouched. Elsa'd always kept her away from the opium laced orgies to preserve her child-like demeanor and to keep her tiny body from getting hurt. Jimmy was glad of that. He didn't want the little Indian princess to see _him_ like that. He didn't want to see _her_ like that.

He also didn't want to discuss that with _Ma_, who wasn't a participant in the gatherings either. He opened and closed his mouth several times, like a fish tossed out of water.

Finally he found the only words he could. And he was just glad they were honest ones.

"She's just sweet, Ma. She's nice. I don't want to _do_ anything, I just like how sweet she is."

Ma considered this, peering closely at her son, who had no choice but to wait her out. Finally she sighed and nodded in agreement.

"Okay, Jimmy. I know. It is a breath of fresh air sometimes, isn't it?"

Jimmy nodded self-consciously. Ma continued.

"Just be careful around Elsa. You know how she is. Like a kid who won't share her toys. She'll give you holy hell."

Jimmy nodded again, grateful to be done with the most embarrassing part of the conversation.

Ethel, the Bearded Lady, seemed satisfied with their understanding.

She smiled at him, patted his cheek, none too gently.

"You're a good boy, Jimmy. I love ya."

He smiled at her.

"Love you too, Ma."

She turned away and then glanced back with a shrewd smirk, raising a finger to point at him.

"And no flipper action either."

Jimmy sighed at her and refrained from rolling his dark eyes.

_That _again_? Jeez, Ma, you catch me _one_ time with Marie the Sword Swallower . . . _

Mama Ethel cut her eyes once more at her beloved son and then left him to his thoughts.

Which were trying not to revolve around a certain sword swallower who swallowed more than swords.

_Ah, man, it's too cold for this. I gotta go hunt something._

* * *

**And so that's the full story of Ma Petite's rabbit coat that Jimmy referenced in 'Test of Strength'. Or my version anyway. And of course the avatar pic for the story you've been reading.**

**Not really sure where the second part of this chapter just went, but meh there it goes. ;)**

**Once again, I hope this doesn't come across as Jimmy being creepy about Ma Petite. It really isn't meant to.**

**Thanks to brigid1318, the1upguy, Jurana Keri, and The Cry-Wank Kid for most kindly reviewing. **

**Thanks as well to BunnyMermaid for adding your support to this story as well. **


	8. Marshmallow World

I do not own American Horror Story: Freak Show.

But I would like to have a little fun here.

A Winter in Wisconsin

Marshmallow World

* * *

'It's a marshmallow world in the winter . . .'

Jimmy Darling was having a bad day.

'When the snow comes to cover the ground . . .'

He'd pulled ice breaking duty. Again.

'It's the time for play, it's a whipped cream day . . .

The Pinheads, Salty and Pepper, wouldn't stop joyfully pelting him with snowballs every time he tried to walk to the mess tent.

'I wait for it all year 'round . . .'

Laughing and clapping their gloved, snowy hands. Bobbing their tobogganed heads like deranged overgrown children.

'Those are marshmallow clouds bein' friendly . . .'

And when he mistimed his ducks, the snow melted down his neck, wetting and chilling his spine all day.

'In the arms of the evergreen trees . . .'

But his hands, his stupid, fused, freak, lobster hands, well, _they_ still sweated like thoroughbreds in his thick gloves.

'And the sun is red, like a pumpkin head . . .'

The sun was a mockery, only coming up to remind them the damned snow was _still_ there and would _never_ go away . . .

'It's shining so your nose won't freeze . . .'

. . . but providing no warmth at _all_ it seemed.

'The world is your snowball, see how it grows . . .'

He hated how _cold_ everything was.

'That's how it goes, whenever it snows . . .'

Inside. Outside. Everywhere.

'The world is your snowball, just for a song . . .'

Last night, he'd warmed up a can of soup on the stove, too cold and stubborn to trudge to the mess tent. Stupidly left the dishes in the sink, soaked with melted snow water.

'So get out and roll it along . . .'

And this morning, they'd been frozen, stuck solid. And he couldn't get them _out_.

'It's a yum-yummy world made for sweethearts . . .'

At first, it had been fun to take leaks in the snow.

'Take a walk with your favorite girl . . .'

Drawing pictures, writing his name.

'It's a sugar date . . .'

But then it just got _cold_. And it wouldn't go _away_.

'What if spring is late . . .'

Taking dumps was even worse. What he wouldn't give for indoor plumbing, just once in his life.

'In winter, it's a marshmallow world . . .'

That stuff stuck in the summer, it stuck just as bad in the winter.

'The world is your snowball, see how it grows . . .'

The only good thing was you didn't have to worry you were squatting over a snake that was about to get _really_ pissed off.

'That's how it goes, whenever it snows . . .'

Or pissed on.

'The world is your snowball, just for a song . . .'

Jimmy rubbed a tired, frustrated mitten hand over his face.

'So get out and roll it along . . .'

There was nothing to do, no show to put on, no new girls to talk to.

'It's a yum-yummy world made for sweethearts . . .'

He couldn't even . . . well . . . it was too cold to even do _that_ for release. He was afraid it would freeze off.

'Take a walk with your favorite girl . . .'

He wanted the snow to _melt_.

'It's a sugar date . . .'

He wanted to go to back to _Florida_.

'What if spring is late . . .'

He wanted to stop hearing that damn _song_.

'In winter, it's a marshm-'

Jimmy Darling threw open the door to his frigid trailer and glared at the man bundled up like a little, round snowman happily building a snow fort in the middle of the still, frozen camp.

"_MEEP_!" he bellowed into the still iciness and the little man squeaked in fear, trembling and cowering in the snow.

"I swear to _god_, if you don't shut that crap _off_, I'm going to _break_ that radio!"

The terrified little man snatched up the warbling transistor radio off an abandoned chair and meeped away, slipping and sliding through the worn path Jimmy spent his _life_ shoveling.

Across the way, Ma's caravan door abruptly opened and she appeared on the threshold, bundled up like a bearded snow queen. Glanced first at her fuming, half-frozen son, then at the disappearing, meeping figure dwindling away to the other end of camp.

She turned back and looked at him, her face smooth and expressionless.

He ignored her, slammed the door back, and thumped back down into his bench, trying to warm his hands around the rapidly cooling cup of coffee.

_Disgusting swill. So weak, it's barely even coffee. More like hot water. _

He sipped the bitter brew.

_Tepid water._

He sat there, glaring blindly at the trailer wall.

_I don't care, I just don't _care_. I couldn't listen to that _stupid_ song anymore!_

He sat there, cold and stubborn and angry.

_He's got to learn there are other people around here as well! It's not just him!_

For about two minutes.

Then . . .

_Crap. _

Jimmy Darling stood up and left his coffee cup on the table.

_I better go check on the meeping little weirdo. _

And stomped out into the cold world to look for his odd little friend so he could apologize. Maybe help him with his damn fort.

And unbeknownst to him, his bearded mother watched him from her ice-frosted caravan window.

And smiled.

* * *

**I hereby dedicate this chapter to the1upguy who reads something he's never even watched and will hopefully appreciate this chapter for what it is. Suffering, baby. And funnies ;)**

**Gosh, when the snow's nice, it's nice. And then when it's not, I turn into a raging miniature Yeti. Grrr . . .**

**The dishes frozen in the sink is actually a true story from my mom and her first house with my dad. Apparently, she screamed so loudly and furiously that my dad built her a whole new house. See? Yeti.**

**Okay, I must confess, 'Marshmallow World', sung by Dean Martin, was released in 1949. So I'm two years early here. But I just couldn't resist ;)**

**Anyway, thanks to brigid1318, the1upguy, Jurana Keri, and partyperson25 (oh, don't worry, we'll address that issue soon enough) for graciously reviewing. **


	9. A Good Bath Can Do Wonders

I do not own American Horror Story: Freak Show.

But I would like to have a little fun here.

A Winter in Wisconsin

A Good Bath Can Do Wonders

* * *

It was bath day, Jimmy's favorite day of the week.

Two actually. They only got to bathe every two weeks.

In warmer climates, it was never so bad. Every once in a while, he just jumped in the nearest river or pond.

But in the frozen wasteland of Wisconsin, the water had to be heated, dumped in the tub.

And then everybody had to take turns.

Ten minutes at a time.

Highest ranking to lowest.

Elsa was at the top.

She never bathed in someone else's bath water, no, not her.

And Jimmy? Well, he was somewhere near the bottom but still above Salty and Pepper.

The water wasn't quite so warm by the time he got there.

But at least it wasn't ice and snow.

Today, however, a small miracle had occurred.

The bathing schedule was split into morning and afternoon.

And the water was reheated.

Jimmy had the afternoon.

Only Paul the Illustrated Seal had graced the tub before Jimmy.

And the water was still very warm.

Jimmy Darling was in Heaven.

He set the kitchen timer for ten minutes and proceeded to soak the heat up into his frozen marrow.

Leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

The large, ancient copper washtub sat flat on the ground. It was a miserably heavy thing with two hand loops on either side that took four men to carry when it was dry and empty. It was located in a small tent and being the dead of winter, all the flaps were closed tightly, keeping the humid air trapped inside as much as possible..

They called it the 'sauna tent'.

It was perfect.

Well, almost.

There was no real door. And no lock whatsoever.

"You stay in there any longer and you really will turn into a lobster, boy."

The words cut through his steamy relaxation and Jimmy groggily raised his head, peering blearily at the figure.

_Oh crap, am I having a nightmare? Did I smoke too much opium?_

Elsa Mars stood just inside the entrance of the tent, sneering at him and his completely exposed self in the clear, warm snow water of the tub.

Jimmy tried to stay calm. Elsa Mars was like a bloodhound. She could smell fear.

"My time's not up, Elsa. I got . . ." he glanced at the ticking timer. ". . . five minutes left."

He leaned his head back against the tub, pretending to close his eyes but really keeping them slitted open. And trained on the crazy German.

Who chuckled and began slowly circling the inside of the tent. She looked like a panther stalking its prey.

"You know, Jimmy, I don't think you're nearly as confident and . . . _cock_-sure as you make yourself out to be."

_Huh? What the _hell_ are we talking about here, Elsa?_

She was coming closer, tightening her loop little by little and Jimmy's sense of self-preservation got the better of him. He sat up and casually covered his most delicate parts from her piercing gaze.

"What do you _want_, Elsa?"

She smiled, a thin, hungry smile that sent chills down his suddenly goose-pimpled spine.

"What _indeed_, Lobster Boy."

She seemed to looking him over, sizing him up, weighing and measuring him.

He didn't like it.

_I am not a prize piece of livestock, you crazy broad. Back off._

Then as she finally reached the edge of the tub and slowly knelt, she spoke again.

There was venom dripping in every nuance, every syllable she uttered. If words were knives or serpent fangs, Jimmy would have been a crimson-painted human pincushion in seconds.

"It would be wise of you not to _test_ me anymore, boy. I have gone toe to toe with _real_ men. And I have _never_ backed down. Ever. You aren't as . . ." she openly craned her gaze down into his bathwater and he stubbornly tried to maintain his dignity . . . _big_ and tough as you pretend to be."

She leaned closer, practically hanging her upper half over the tub.

_Uh, Elsa? Mind getting your old woman majumbas outta my bathwater?_

"I would eat you _alive_," she hissed.

And smiled devilishly.

"And not in the way you would _want_ me to."

Simultaneously as the image of her insinuation flitted behind his eyes and he felt an instinctive electric current buzz in his nether regions, Jimmy also felt a sudden surge of nausea.

_Urgh, get away, old woman. I am _not_ going to throw up in this tub. _

Taking his silence and stillness for desire, Elsa Mars' smile widened further.

_She stretched out to kiss him as one of her cherry-red nail polished hands dipped down into the bathwater._

_He groaned and tried to restrain himself but he couldn't. He was at the mercy and whim of his body. And the effect that Elsa Mars was having on it. He couldn't control himself any longer. He had to do it. It was going to happen. _

_And then it did._

_Jimmy Darling threw up all over Elsa Mars. _

_It was a sickly green color from the stew they'd been diligently eating on for the past few days. It stank and steamed and clung to her hair and face and clothes in bits and drips. _

_The violated, offended woman reared back and shrieked like an enraged banshee. She swiped a hand across her face, looked at the mess, and screamed again. _

_Then in a much different way than she had originally intended, she plunged both hands into the water and brought them back up again and again to splash her face in a desperate effort to cleanse herself of the vomit coating her skin. _

_And Jimmy Darling sat naked and vastly entertained, laughing his head off in the now mucky tub. _

_At Elsa Mars and her putrescent shame. _

". . . know your place in my freak show," she was demanding coldly.

Jimmy looked at her blankly as she concluded what had no doubt been an impassioned and impressive speech on the surety and continuance of Jimmy's low ranking existence in Fraulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities.

When he didn't answer, she snapped two fingers up in front of his dark eyes and he cleared further.

"Do you _understand_ me, Lobster Boy?"

Jimmy nodded calmly, struggling not to laugh aloud at the thought of her covered in his own revolting stomach offings.

"Yes, ma'am. Loud and clear."

She probed his face with her cold eyes for a moment longer and then nodded in dark satisfaction.

The timer buzzed and Elsa smiled in sanguine delight.

"You're time is up, _Darling_," she sneered, splashing water at him and he refused to flinch. "Get back to work."

And she sashayed out of the sauna tent, apparently very satisfied with herself. Leaving the no doubt cowed and manipulated Jimmy Darling to his own devices.

Who turned off the still buzzing timer, slid under the water, and almost drowned himself in watery laughter.

* * *

**Not really on the same page at the end there, huh? Elsa thinks she put the fear of her into him and he's just trying not to laugh in her face. Heehee.**

**Alrighty, so there's your angsty chapter. Not what you were expecting, baffled readers? Yeah, me neither. But you'll let me know I'm sure ;)**

**Thanks to brigid1318, theupguy, shyangel101, The Cry-Wank Kid, and Jurana Keri for kindly reviewing.**


	10. Somnium

I do not own American Horror Story: Freak Show.

But I would like to have a little fun here.

A Winter in Wisconsin

Chapter 10: Somnium

* * *

Winter was finally relinquishing its bone numbing grasp upon their little corner of the world. The snow had melted and the land looked was though it was readying itself to awaken from its slumber.

Jimmy Darling saw all this and felt stirrings of hope in his chest.

_It's gonna be a good day._

He followed the mouth-watering smells to their destination where he found Evie and Ma Petite giggling and chatting over their morning preparations in the brewing kitchen.

"Mornin', Jimmy!" Evie greeted him brightly.

"Good morning, ladies! And what have we got here?"

Ma Petite's dark, bright eyes sparkled with delight.

"Hotcakes!"

Evie chuckled at her tiny friend and gently reprimanded.

"_And_ sausages _and_ eggs _and_ hash browns too, Ma Petite."

Ma Petite leaned conspiratorially toward Jimmy. He leaned toward her, a crooked grin on his face.

"Hotcakes," she whispered adamantly and he nodded with a smirk.

"It'll be ready soon," Evie relayed, brandishing her spatula aloft.

Her handsome face practically glowed and Jimmy thought he'd rarely seen her so happy.

"Okay, I'm going take a walk around and see what else is going on, then."

They turned once more to their work as Jimmy headed out the back door into the misty morning sunshine. A chill still hung in the air but only in the way that it does when it knows the sun is coming to drive it away soon.

Suzi and Meep sat in chairs on the edge of the yard, shelling beans. The little man was happily meeping away at her and the smiling lady in blue seemed to be letting him go right along with a patience Jimmy knew he himself could never possess.

"Meep!" The pointy toothed man greeted Jimmy.

Jimmy returned the smile and squatted down next to Suzi's humungous belly.

"How's the baby? You doin' okay?" he inquired gently.

Due to her singular frame, Suzi was growing straight out rather than out and down. The doctor'd cautioned her to be very attentive to any sudden pains or changes in her condition. So far, there had been none but the constant attention of nearly everyone in their unique little family was starting to drive her slightly crazy.

She switched her smiling attentions over to him and rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"Baby's fine, but I'm tired of peein'. And my man's over there's been watching me like a hawk."

At this statement, she grinned wider and waved at Paul, who was stacking firewood from yesterday's cut. He winked and pursed his lips in a shameless kissy motion.

"Don't think you could sneak me another cup of coffee, do ya?" she muttered in a low voice.

As Jimmy was cooking up a suitable denial, Paul called out to them, an armful of timber in his tattooed grasp.

"Don't let her josh you, mate! Doctor said only one a day and she's already _had_ her morning cuppa! Anymore might send her into premature labor! We're trying to keep those lil' scamps in there as long as possible."

Suzi glared at him as he came over and pecked her cheek affectionately.

"Wouldn't do to give your body too much of the hard stuff, darlin'."

She cut her eyes slyly at him.

"Well, I wouldn't be _in_ this condition if you hadn't already given me the hard stuff!" she replied suggestively.

Meep turned red as Suzi reached out and grabbed Paul's shirt, pulling him in for a smooch.

"Can't argue with that, Paul!" Jimmy laughed, clapping the man carefully on the shoulder and headed on around the house.

In the front yard, Salty and Pepper were preparing the soil for the flower bulbs they would soon plant.

Well, Salty was preparing the soil. Pepper was relaying instructions in simple words and guiding gestures.

"Careful," she directed, moving the soil with her hands like so. "Careful hands."

He nodded and patted the soil a little more gently than before.

"OK," he grunted obediently.

From the side of the house, Jimmy watched them in awe, absently scratching the back of his neck. They were both pinheads, odd-looking individuals with smaller brains than the average human. Most of their kind died young and could only interact with others in a limited capacity.

Then there was Pepper. Pepper constantly showed patience and love for Salty. She genuinely rejoiced with him every time he accomplished a task correctly. And when he made a mistake, she just showed him over and over again until he did it right.

Jimmy had never seen such a gentle, kind spirit as Pepper. Sure, sometimes she got a little . . . overexcited.

But hey who didn't, right?

"Looking good there, guys," he greeted as he walked up.

Pepper smiled brilliantly at him.

"Ready for flowers!" she exclaimed.

He nodded.

"Just about."

During this short interaction, Salty, the quieter of the pair, had not spoken a word.

Instead, his googling eyes focused raptly on Jimmy's appendages. Over the months, Jimmy had tried his best to grow immune to the simpleton's intense attentions. He'd finally decided not to try and hide his deformity anymore and now he let them hang straight at his side.

As always when Salty met Jimmy's eyes, a look of fear crossed his face and he flinched.

"Salty," Jimmy responded gently. "It's okay."

The Pinhead nodded jerkily, nonsense words spluttering from his mouth. Pepper patted him.

"Salty," she reiterated. "Jimmy okay. No pain."

He stared deep into her eyes for a moment, then calmed significantly and resumed patting the soil in front of him.

Jimmy sighed. He was trying his best to be patient like dear Pepper, but he was struggling after several months at it.

_You gotta accept it, Salt, old buddy. If I can, anybody can. _

Pepper smiled sweetly at Jimmy, her buckteeth poking out between her livery lips.

_Dear sweet Pepper._ _If only I had half your goodness_, Jimmy thought as he returned the smile before turning away. _Dear sweet Pep._

He looked up at the structure before him.

A big, old, rambling farmhouse. Peeling white paint. Slightly warped doorframes and loose floorboards. Rattly windows. Drafty in the winter chill. Stifling in the dead summer heat. Sometimes the plumbing acted up and the electricity liked to flicker during storms.

Jimmy loved the place.

After the incident, they'd pooled their money, sold their trailers, and convinced a compassionate loan officer to aid them in their quest. After much searching and quarreling, they'd found just what they'd wanted and bought it and its small tract of land on the cheap.

He'd thought it was too good to be true. He'd thought he was in heaven.

And, in his own way, he sort of was.

The wrap around porch housed several dilapidated rocking chairs and a creaky, old swing.

Ma was sitting quietly in swing now, reading from a thin book in her hand.

Jimmy approached the house and crept up the steps, trying to avoid detection as long as possible.

"Hope is the thing with feathers," she intoned reverently.

Jimmy stopped and listened.

"That perches in the soul . . ."

He loved listening to her recite poetry, the smooth cadence of her distinctive voice. Even when he didn't really understand the meanings.

"And sings the tune without the words . . ."

She used to sit next to his bunk at night, his Ma, and stroke his hair and whisper verse into his ear.

"And never stops at all."

Then she closed the book, looked up with a secret smile and beckoned him forward.

He went and sat next to her. The rusty hinges squeaked. She patted his arm affectionately.

"Good morning, son?" she asked.

He nodded, watching Salty and Pepper.

"Yep, woke up. That's always a good start."

They sat in peace for a moment or two. Ma ran a plump finger over the gilded words embossed on the cover of the book.

Jimmy read them.

_Poems of Emily Dickenson_.

"Pain?" Ma queried casually without looking up.

He smiled ruefully. His ma, always looking out for him.

"A little," he admitted. "It comes and goes."

She seemed to want to speak but couldn't. Her eyes were bright and shiny.

"I figure it always will," Jimmy Darling shrugged. "But it's nothing I can't handle."

He sniffed a little, scratching his nose carefully with one hook.

His mother's eyes followed the flash of shiny metal accompanying his movements.

"You're a good boy, Jimmy. And I'm proud to call you my son."

He grinned his dimple at her.

"Thanks, Ma."

They watched Salty and Pepper for awhile until Ethel Darling broke their quiet again.

"You had hope, Jimmy, even when the rest of us couldn't see it. You carried it for us."

He didn't say anything. He couldn't for a moment. Then Ma slapped his leg and gestured vaguely around them.

"Moses . . . leading the Israelites," she declared with a knowing wink.

They shared a secret smile between them.

"Yeah, I did, didn't I?"

She nodded in contentment.

"Yes, son, you sure did."

And they sat in the warming morning, with delicious smells of breakfast wafting out to them and the freaks around who were, thanks to Jimmy Darling's sacrifice, freaks no longer, but themselves.

Only themselves.

And Jimmy Darling, no longer Lobster Boy.

No longer son of Neptune, god of the Sea.

Just Jimmy Darling.

And his hook hands.

* * *

He awoke with a nasty start in the frigid, quiet darkness, groggy and discombobulated.

He reached to swipe at his slick, sweaty face.

And phowhumped himself right in the face . . .

_Owww! _

. . . with a numb, clunky, lobster hand.

Lobster hand. Not hook.

_Gonna have a black eye now. _

He lay still for a moment, til he felt the tingling awakening work its way up his elbows into his thick hands and fused fingers.

_I'll just tell them Ma Petite beat me. Yeah, snuck in here in the middle of the night and walloped my brains out. I stole her last rabbit kabob or something._

Then he carefully reached and flicked on the light near his bunk.

And stared.

At his two, whole, fully functional lobster hands.

He wiggled them. He waggled them. He touched them to each other experimentally.

They were just the same as they'd always been.

And he couldn't quite process it.

_I'm crazy. I must be crazy._

But he wasn't crazy. It had all been just a dream.

But sometimes dreams were portents, visions into the future.

_Would it be worth it? To be free from the freak show but live with no hands?_

How would he be able to care for his family? Feed himself? Wipe his own butt?

_I'd still be a freak, but a different kind of freak._

He'd wanted to run out and wake up somebody, anybody, and show them his hands so they could say they were really there. Touch them and tell him they were just his flesh and blood.

But then they'd want to know why he was acting so weird. And how he could tell them of his dream?

They would laugh. Or think he was losing his marbles. Or worst of all, pity him.

Because sometimes dreams were powerful things.

He turned off the light and cradled his precious, lobster hands appreciatively to his chest under the thick mound of blankets.

And sometimes dreams were just stupid dreams.

Jimmy Darling fell back to sleep and dreamt no more that night.

* * *

**Brigid1318 as my witness, I had this idea about two weeks before episode 10 aired. No lie. **

**So anyway, thanks to iwritexx, Jurana Keri, partyperson25, the1upguy, brigid1318, The Cry-Wank Kid, and Strummer Pink for your patience and your ever appreciated reviews.**

**And thanks to MakaOraLovesDestiel for adding your support to this story as well.**


	11. Evie's Idiot Boy

I do not own American Horror Story: Freak Show.

But I would like to have a little fun here.

A Winter in Wisconsin

Evie's Idiot Boy

* * *

"I need to go into town."

Just moments before, Eve had banged on Jimmy's trailer door and he'd let her in, secretly embarrassed that it probably didn't look as good or smell as good as hers.

But now he just stared at her in disbelief, thinking she must have gone crazy, wrongfully thinking this was warm, sunny Florida and not freezing, damn Wisconsin.

He glanced out the dirty windows at the snow covered vehicles.

'Uh, I don't know, Evie. I don't think those trucks can make it down the road. We might kill ourselves."

Her jaw was set; she seemed firm in her commitment.

"Well, then," she took a deep break as if drawing up her courage. "I'll just have to walk it."

She looked out in the window in the direction of town. Then wrapped her coat even tighter around her.

"What is it? A couple of miles?"

Jimmy studied her face. Evie was a pretty level-headed gal. She wasn't really one for insisting upon frivolities. And when she made up her mind about something, there wasn't much stopping her.

So he made up his own mind.

"Yeah, but you don't have to walk it. I'll go. Just . . . tell me what you want."

She shook her head in determination.

"No, no. I . . . no."

He raised a teasing eyebrow at her.

"What? Think I'll get the wrong color nail polish?"

She glared at him, looking like she was about to cuff him upside the head with her large mittened hand.

"Don't make me pop you, Jimmy Darling!"

He grinned cheekily.

"No, ma'am!"

In the end, they decided to walk it together.

* * *

It _was_ sunny, as a matter of fact. Bright and dazzling, which was usually a good thing.

But now the winter sun, bouncing off the snow covered world, was very nearly blinding.

Their breaths billowed out in big, puffing clouds, sweeping past their frozen faces as they trudged through the snow.

Both of them were so bundled up in big thick winter clothes, they nearly waddled down the slick road.

"So," Jimmy panted, the cold hurting his lungs. "What do you need so badly that we have to wade through snow drifts to get to town?"

The towering woman didn't respond.

"Evie."

She seemed to have suddenly gone deaf.

"_Evie."_

Her face was red, he guessed from the cold.

"_What_, Jimmy?"

He frowned at her. They were usually pretty comfortable together but now she seemed awfully jumpy.

"Why are we going to town?"

She turned her bundled face away from him, squinting out over the snow covered fields and farm houses.

Jimmy waited, wondering what could possibly be such a big deal.

"It's been a long winter, Jimmy," Amazon Eve finally conceded. "Some of us ladies are running short on . . . supplies."

Jimmy stopped dead in the middle of the road, a look of pure aggravation plastered on his face.

"Are you _kidding_, Evie? Supplies?! We don't have to freeze all the way to town for supplies! I've got extra stuff stashed in my trailer, I know Paul's got some. Hell, lay on enough charm and wit and I think even Elsa'd help out! We don't need to freeze our toes off out here! Come on, let's go back to camp!"

With a spring in his step, Jimmy Darling aboutfaced toward camp and then noticed Evie wasn't with him. Instead she was standing still, what he could see of her face red as a cherry and looking strange.

"Jimmy," she said in a voice that clearly indicted she'd rather be having any other conversation rather than the one she was currently involved in, "I very much doubt that you or Paul have what we need."

She paused and then a twisted smile seemed to flash in her eyes.

"And, honestly, I think Elsa might be a little too _old _to help either."

Jimmy shook his head with certainty and gestured toward camp.

"No, no. Seriously, I got lots of different odds and ends stowed away. I'm sure we can find _something_ to help you."

Evie's face seemed to be approaching magenta as she wiped away an ice icicling tear of embarrassment.

"Really? You think?"

Jimmy nodded adamantly, wondering why she sounded so resentful.

"Yeah, definitely."

He held out his hand toward her, in a welcoming gesture toward the camp.

"Jimmy, we women need things that you guys just don't _have_."

He rolled his eyes.

"Hey, come on, it might not look or smell as good as your stuff, but it'll do in a bind."

But she just stood there, once more glaring at him.

"I really doubt it, Jimmy."

He was getting impatient now. It was cold and the sun was giving him a headache.

"No, no, I got it all, Evie. Just try me!"

Her eyes suddenly bore into him little scathing drills.

"You've got feminine sanitary napkins and Tampax in _your_ trailer?"

Jimmy suddenly discovered he had frozen solid to the ground and his mittened lobster hand was immobile as well.

His mouth seemed to be on the fritz too.

"Uhhhhh . . ."

Evie nodded in shame and turned away.

He watched her in shock for a few moments, then unstuck himself from the ground and loped after her.

She didn't look at him or speak either as they crunched along.

He couldn't think of a thing to say.

And she was apparently not speaking to him out of embarrassment or shame. Or anger.

Finally Jimmy Darling said the only thing he could of.

"I'm sorry, Evie. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

He saw her shadow shake its head a little.

"Didn't your mother, or _somebody_, teach you about women, Jimmy?"

He shrugged a little self depreciatingly.

"Yeah. But I wasn't thinking. I'm an idiot."

She didn't speak for a couple of minutes. When she did, her voice was softer and gentler.

"Yes, you are, Jimmy Darling."

She sighed audibly, then chuckled.

"But you're my idiot."

He dared a glance at her, grinning wirily.

She was smiling too.

But still wasn't exactly looking at him.

Against all odds and just when Jimmy thought they might actually be walking backward rather than forward, he and Evie made it to town.

* * *

**I refuse to apologize for this fluffy, silly little chapter. I just survived episode 11 so I needed to laugh. *gratefully pats face with hands; sighs in relief***

**So Tampax was formally introduced in 1936 by Dr. Earl Haas! Who was probably just trying to make his wife happy. Thank you, sir!**

**Thanks to brigid1318, iwritexx, The Cry-Wank Kid, rabraham7898 for choosing to review. You guys are great!**

**Now, I wonder what will happen when they get to town? Hmmm . . .**


	12. Evie's Sweet Boy

I do not own American Horror Story: Freak Show.

But I would like to have a little fun here.

A Winter in Wisconsin

Evie's Sweet Boy

* * *

Jimmy couldn't remember ever being more relieved in his life than when they finally reached the outskirts of town.

_Oh, thank God, a miracle in this frozen wasteland._

Evie's accelerated pace conveyed the same viseral reaction as his. The two of them shuffled forward like snowspun Eskimos escaping the empty tundra toward the warmth of electric lights and indoor plumbing.

Once on the mostly deserted Main Street sidewalk, they navigated more easily and with less danger of ice inducing ballet than they had in months.

Suddenly, Jimmy stopped and a split second later, Evie with him.

He gestured, a sly grin edging its way onto his numb face.

"Whaddya say, Evie?"

She regarded him quizzically and then at the large, colorful poster they'd just been about to pass.

_The Three Musketeers_

_Action! Adventure! Romance!_

_Starring:_

_Lana Turner_

_Gene Kelly_

_Matinee 3pm_

"Well?" he asked.

Clearly interested and trying valiantly to hide it, she cast him a wistful smile.

"I didn't bring any extra money, Jimmy. Just what I needed to spend."

He wasted no time ruminating, no, not Jimmy Darling. He nodded and walked confidently right up to the ticket window.

And was faced with a small tagboard sign: _Tickets Inside at Concession Stand._

_Alrighty then._

He flung open the door to a thin waft of heat and held out a gentlemanly hand to Eve.

"It'll be my treat."

She hesitated.

"Come on," he cajoled winningly. "I bet it's _warm_ in there."

Evie remained rooted to the spot as Jimmy held his ground, absolutely sure of his fantastic idea.

"Is this a date?" she queried mildly.

He raised his eyebrows in amusement, not having considered the possibility until now.

"Well, would you say 'yes' if it was?"

She considered the question, looking slightly abashed.

"No."

He shrugged from deep within his thick togs. Or tried to.

"Then, no."

Evie searched him a moment further before finally relenting.

"Okay."

And passed through his opened door with an appreciative smile and the grace of an Amazonian princess.

Thickly swaddled in mounds of cold weather attire.

Jimmy followed her, relieved to close the door to the frigid outside and seek refuge in the considerably warmer theater entrance.

It was swathed in maroon and gold, as if to insist upon the grandeur of the wonderful world of cinema.

Even if the gold was slightly flecking.

They disposed of their thick coats and hats in a coat hall and returned to the main lobby. Jimmy casually kept his gloves on.

His companion graciously chose not to mention it.

The place was deserted, save for a lone theater attendant.

They approached the skinny, bespectacled young man behind at the concessions counter, standing amid an array of sugary treats and buttered popcorn that enveloped him in aromatic wonder.

Jimmy threw him an easy smile which was not immediately returned.

"Two tickets for the matinee."

The worker tried not to stare at the bundled Eve as she towered over him and his display of sugary comfits.

He failed.

The gentle woman smiled warmly but Jimmy could she was beginning to falter a little at such open observation outside the familiar confines of the freakshow.

Jimmy attempted to derail the growing tension by rapping on the glass counter with a gloved hand.

"Excuse me? The lady and I would like two tickets to the show, please."

Finally the guy turned to him again.

"Oh. Yes. Uh, thirty-five cents apiece . . . that's seventy cents for both of you."

Jimmy pulled out a whole coveted dollar bill from his pants pocket. Slid it across the glass.

Ignored Evie biting her lip in obvious distress over his rapidly dwindling finances.

The young man took the cash with a slightly unsteady hand, glancing nervously at the imposing female figure.

"And two cokes and a popcorn," Jimmy stated in a fit of sudden daring and wild freedom.

Evie drew in a muted hiss of a breath.

"Jimmy," she murmured worriedly.

He cut his eyes without really facing up to her and then redirected to the concession worker.

"Okay, that'll be ninety cents altogether," he announced, glancing surreptiously between the two of them.

Then their rapt audience turned and filled a square container with hot, buttery goodness. Placed it on a small stack of napkins. Poured ice cubed laced cola into paper cups. Open and shut the cash register. And slid a dime across the counter.

Which was the second thing to confound Jimmy Darling that day.

_Never be able to pick that up without taking off my gloves . . . hmmm . . . guess I'll have to leave it . . . gratuity or something . . . is a whole dime though . . . shame, every little bit helps . . ._

But much to the shock of both men separated by a visible counter and an invisible demarcation of freak versus non-freak, Amazon Eve took the reins of the situation.

"Oh, I'll just take that, shall I, _Darling_?"

She plucked it up and dropped it down the front of her sweater, winking brashly at the agog theater attendant.

"Something for later, perhaps."

And sashayed away, daintily nibbling at a morsel of popcorn.

Mentally shaking himself . . .

_Come on, come on, don't crack in front of the rube . . ._

Jimmy tossed him a bold grin . . .

"That's one classy broad, I tell ya."

. . . gathered up the colas and hurried after Evie.

Catching up with her, they entered the darkened theater together and Jimmy gestured for Evie to choose their seats.

Halfway down, middle of the row.

The perfect spot.

And the entire theater was all theirs.

After a moment, Jimmy glanced at her. Cleared his throat. And spoke.

"Just to be clear . . . that's not really a later for _me_, right?"

Evie ghosted a smile and replied with a sweet, jaunty air.

"What do _you_ think, Jimmy Darling?"

He eyed her closely and finally smiled.

"No?"

She nudged him with an elbow.

"Good call, sweetie."

_Fair enough._

They enjoyed the movie. And the popcorn. And the colas.

And the freedom.

For the two hours and five minutes it took for their dashing heroes to save the Technicolor day.

Then they dutifully retrieved their winter trappings and sojourned to the most important drugstore.

And finally trudged homeward.

A bit warmer and more lighthearted than they had before.

* * *

"And where have _you_ two been all afternoon?"

Both Evie and Jimmy carefully painted innocence all over their faces under the suspicious glare of Fraulein Elsa Mars.

Who appeared as a bloodhound on the scent.

"You smell like carnival."

Jimmy swept a hand around at their snow covered surroundings.

"Look, Evie. Carnival."

Elsa's glare intensified.

"_Warm_ carnival."

Jimmy dimpled his grin at her and responded in only a way that he could.

"Yeah, me too, Elsa. I'm smelling Florida closer every day. It's somewhere under all this snow. That's the dream, isn't it?"

* * *

**Hello, sweeties! **

**Just to be clear, I don't think Jimmy's 'trying' anything with Evie here. I think he just doesn't want to flub up anything else for the day. Smart of him, don't you think? Nothing more embarrassing to faceplant across a line you didn't know was even there, right? Or maybe I've just been away for too long. **

**And as for Evie, well, what can I say? We ladies gotta throw out a little stubborn flash every once in a blue moon, yeah? **

**Well anywho, the1upguy has been harassing, ahem, I mean, 'gently reminding' me to post. Much thanks, bro ;) Hope you enjoy this.**

**Thanks to brigid1318, the1upguy, The Cry-Wank Kid, and Jurana Keri for reviewing such a long time ago on that previous chapter with foot-in-mouth Jimmy Darling.**

**Thanks as well to Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape for adding your support to this tale.**

**I'm thinking of wrapping up this story pretty soon but am also considering writing the 'in between' of the season finale's bizarre popcorn scene and Jimmy/Bette/Dot domestic bliss scene. Just 'cause I gotta figured out what the fruit happened. And since I can make up my own stuff finally, there will be a bit more lightheartedness mixed in with the necessary angst and such.**

**So if you're interested in it, I believe the title will be 'Jimmy, not Moses.' And it will be published after I complete 'Just People'.**

**And if you're not interested in it, that's okay too. Read what ya wanna read, yeah? ;)**


	13. Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

I do not own American Horror Story: Freak Show.

But I would like to have a little fun here.

A Winter in Wisconsin

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

* * *

And then of course there was the night of the wolves . . .

Night had fallen across the frozen land and the denizens of Elsa Mars' Cabinet of Curiosities were all nestled snug in their bunks, visions of sun soaked seashores lapping in their heads.

Jimmy Darling, with his loose board shorts and his chest bare, admired the tanned, long-legged beauties in teeny bikinis sashay through his hazy field of vision. They smiled coyly at him, their bow lips painted red and their blond hair bouncy on their sun-kissed shoulders.

Smiled at him and his lobster hands buried casually in the warm, concealing sand.

Suddenly a thundering sound boomed across the peaceful beach, over and over again, rapidly like a battering ram of reality.

The beach girls tremored and dissolved, the warmth of sun drenched beaches evaporated before the bitter cold of a never ending winter.

_Wthf . . ._

Jimmy Darling blearily opened his eyes, rubbing a deformed hand over them, groggy and discombobulated.

And a little pent up.

"Jimmy? _Jimmy_? _Jimmy?!"_

It was the voice of his mother.

_Ma? What'd I do? I, uh, really can't answer the door at this second. Hang on, uh, baseball, latrine digging, snow shoveling, yep, that did it . . ._

Jimmy got up then and opened the door.

* * *

_I was sleeping. Dreaming. And it was nice. So nice. This is not nice._

The entire troupe of the frozen, wayward Florida freak show was huddled in Ethel Darling's sturdy caravan.

Peering out the tiny windows at the moon-washed landscape before them.

The howling was getting steadily louder.

"I couldn't sleep. The cold, I guess, and so I went outside to move around and that's when I heard them."

Suzi shivered as she spoke and Paul put a bundled short arm around her in reassurance.

"I just, I just thought we'd all be safer together."

Her voice shook as she watched them.

Their lithe, loping shapes roamed the camp. It was impossible to count how many there were as they trotted to and from, in and out of sight.

Them, the wolves.

"Yes, they are hungry tonight. It has been a long, starving winter for them. They are too hungry to remember that we are their superiors. Alone, they would devour us each in turn," Elsa Mars' German accent intoned darkly in the gloom.

Ma Petite, visibly trembled as she perched on the back of a chair. Jimmy thought about comforting her with a friendly hug but knew the hawk-eyed Elsa Mars and her silver tongue of death would slice him to shreds for his caring.

A prowling wolf, its pale coat reflecting the white snow around it, padded past them, then stopped and turned. It seemed to be staring right into the freak-laden caravan.

Jimmy felt his blood chill.

_It's sniffing for us. It wants us. It's hungry._

"Stay still," Paul whispered. "They've got great night vision."

Unable to move, they all stood motionless, barely daring to breathe.

But one innocent-hearted member of their troop did not seem to harbor the same dark dread and fear as the rest of them.

"Puppy!"

Everybody sucked in their shocked, icy breath at Pepper the Pinhead's crow of unbridled delight.

The razor sharp senses of the animal outside in the snow pricked out its ears at the sound of her shrill voice and it cocked its head in clear interest.

Jimmy's entire body went into deep freeze.

Pepper clapped her hands joyfully, a huge grin spread across her simple face and called out again.

_"Puppy!"_

The wolf lowered its head for a moment, then raised it toward the snowy skies and howled, an undulating, eerie sound that reverberated throughout the camp and the ears of its intended prey.

Then it bared its fangs at them in a low and dangerous snarl.

Pepper gasped and scrambled backward into the arms of the bearded Ethel.

"No puppy," she gasped breathlessly, shuddering. "No puppy, no puppy, no puppy."

"No, honey, I'm sorry, it ain't," the bearded lady replied, gently stroking Pepper's upper back between her rigid shoulder blades.

Together they watched all in horrified fascination as the wolf padded closer.

Paul nudged Jimmy, making an obvious effort to remain upbeat and jocular.

"Go on out there and apologize, mate. It was you who took all their rabbits anyway."

Jimmy unconsciously huffed in exasperation, not daring to look away from the wolf to Paul. He kept his eyes locked on the lanky predator as it slowly approached their safe haven.

Paul, the Illustrated Seal, who was only using his gift of gab to ward off his own mounting panic, lost whatever his next words were going to be and simply stared along with the rest of them.

"They can't get us in here," Elsa Mars muttered stubbornly. "Not unless they've learned how to open doors in the wild."

A terrible vision suddenly flashed in Jimmy's mind of Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother alone in her tiny cottage and the Big Bad Wolf opening the door and eating her up.

_I hate you, Ma. Never tell me another story again, would you?_

And then came the whining, right at the door.

Pitiful whining.

Just a helpless, precious, little puppy, hungry and all alone and lost in the cold.

Pepper whimpered and buried her face in Ethel's bosom. Ethel shushed her.

And scratching. Splintering scratching sounds that seemed to fill the still caravan and their frightened brains.

And then whining turned to snarls and growls of the famished carnivore.

Suddenly, Ma Petite hopped down from her perch, snatched up a walking stick Ma used to move around the camp with when her joints were acting up, and started hitting the wolf door with it.

Hitting it over and over with all her tiny might. And screaming.

Screaming Indian gibberish Jimmy'd never heard before in his life, Her lovely little face was screwed up in an expression of determination and anger.

Her futile attack on the door and her shrill, high-pitched yammering would have been funny in any other situation.

If Jimmy hadn't been caught up in shock and awe of her daring bravery in the face of an animal that would consider her a light midnight snack.

Almost as a unified being, the freaks moved toward the wolf door, shouting and yelling and pounding the aged wood with a fierce and mighty strength.

All but the stoic Elsa Mars, with her arms folded across her modest chest and Ethel Darling, who still held the trembling Pepper.

They shouted and yelled and cursed and kicked and smacked. Ma Petite scrambled out of the way, still clutching her warrior's staff in her tiny hand.

The wolf stopped its attack and backed away slowly. Into the shadows and disappeared into the dark night.

The din inside Ethel Darling's caravan tapered off slowlyand they stood, their hearts pounding, bodies quaking with heightened emotion.

Elsa Mars, however, could always be counted upon to present her unrelenting judgment of the impromptu performance.

No matter the hint of pride peeking out from behind her austere expression.

"Do you all feel better now, then? Making such a spectacle of yourselves in the face of a mere _animal_?" she questioned loftily. "It wouldn't have gotten in, you know. It would have lost interest and gone away eventually. Your ridiculous outburst was entirely unnecessary."

_Oh, can it, you old bat. I feel _great_ now. I feel _alive_. I feel like . . ._

But he couldn't grab the nearest female and lay a heavy one on her because there none to his liking within the caravan. And the ones that might be would smack him cross-eyed for his efforts.

So Jimmy stood, jittery and filled with empowered energy amid his friends and freak family, waiting for his wired-up body to relax itself. Looking in the eyes of his friends, he saw some of them felt the same.

Ma Petite was grinning widely at them all, still brandishing her formidable weapon in her manicured hand.

Jimmy realized he was grinning too.

Then he started laughing.

And they, in astonishment and embarrassment at their own uncharacteristic behavior, joined him.

And that was the best part of all.

* * *

The wolf did not return close that night to scratch at the door. Neither did any of its compatriots, though they did remain within the camp long after those within the caravan fell asleep.

They huddled up together that night, tightly packed like sardines.

Ma gave up her bed to Elsa, as Jimmy knew she would, and slept in a chair.

Jimmy slept nearest to the wolf door.

So the warrior princess Ma Petite wouldn't.

And in the morning, the camp was empty of everything but the freaks.

* * *

**Hey, everyone! Is it spring yet? No? Oh well. ;)**

**So this was a little fantastical, I suppose, but who cares, right? This whole story is supposed to have a bit of whimsical fun to it anyway.**

**Special thanks to brigid1318, the1upguy, Jurana Keri, The Cry-Wank Kid, Mira ServerusSirius Black-Snape (did you like your Ma Petite and Pepper?) and my Gracious Guest (can never stay anyway for too long, sweetie) for reviewing this rambling tale so loyally. You all are the best. :)**


	14. Rock-a-Bye, Baby

I do not own American Horror Story: Freak Show.

And I fear winter will never end.

A Winter in Wisconsin

Rock-a-Bye, Baby

* * *

"Come on now, Jimmy. Ethel said you had to take it every three hours."

"I dob wab too, Subie!"

"Come on, it'll make your sore throat feel better," she coaxed, trying for the umpteenth time to show patience for her sick friend.

"Nob, ib taeb like shib!"

Legless Suzi perched on a chair next to Jimmy's bunk. And held out the cup of warm, now slowly cooling, liquid to the pitiful wad of sick boy burrowed under the mountain of blankets in his bunk.

Yes, it did have a kick, she couldn't deny. Sage mixed with alum in warm water would make anybody recoil. When she'd first forced him to gargle with it, he'd nearly spewed it all over her pinched and worried face.

Jimmy inhaled a gasp of breath, held it for a moment, and then sneezed an incredible amount of thick greenish snot all over his flushed face.

"Doh, ma gob!" he groaned, clapping his shaking hands over his eyes and nose to keep them from exploding and killing him.

Sweet concerned Suzi bubbled up with a groan of compassion for his miserable condition as well as a giggle of inappropriate mirth at the revoltingly humorous sight before her.

The giggle escaped first. She tried to choke it back as quickly she could.

Jimmy glared at her as he attempted to mop up his face with an already heavily soiled handkerchief.

"Ib nob fudde, Subie!"

She collected herself with a flash of guilt, resuming her loyal concern.

"I know, honey. I know. I'm sorry."

She waited until he had cleaned his face as best as he could. Then offered him the cup once again.

"Now take this so you can get better, sweetie."

Jimmy started to shake his matted head, then stopped as the sinus pressure punished him for his efforts.

"Nob! Jub leb be sleeb so I caeb _dieb_!"

Quiet little Suzi was all out of patience and kindness. She reached way down into her arsenal for her last remaining weapon in the fight against the sick baby Jimmy.

Leaning forward and dropping her voice, she whispered menacingly.

"Ethel has been up taking care of Salty all night and she's very tired. She won't be happy to be woken up to take care of you because you've got more brains than he has."

She glared at him.

"Unless you've sneezed them out already."

Jimmy watched her with red, oozing eyes. He seemed to be refusing to speak on the bleary headed notion of punishing her.

"Jimm-_y_?" The usually timid Suzi pushed. "Do you want me to get your _mother_?"

Twenty year old Jimmy Darling pushed out his bottom lip in a sullen pout and glared at her for a long moment. She held his stare without blinking, lips pressed into a thin, determined line.

Finally, he wilted under her resolve. When he spoke, it was a grumble.

"Nob."

Suzi nodded, satisfied. She held out the cup. Jimmy took it and drank.

"Ob, Subi, thib ib _abfulb_!"

And she had to go before she launched into another fit of laughter at the poor big baby.

* * *

Jimmy Darling didn't _want_ to cough. It _hurt_ to cough. It hurt to _breathe_.

But especially cough.

So he didn't.

He just sat on it. Waited. Refused.

And got sicker.

And sicker.

"Jimmy, it's gonna set up in your lungs! Cough it up, son!"

And he stubbornly refused, even his ma.

"Nob! It _hurb_!"

Ethel Darling huffed, turned and muttered something Jimmy couldn't hear to Suzi, now balanced on Jimmy's table.

Then she left, returning momentarily with a closed hand and a stern bearded face.

And approached her son's bedside.

"Jimmy Darling, let it go and cough it up."

He shook his head stubbornly and she slapped his face with her open hand.

As Jimmy gasped with the sudden blow, with great precision and deftness, Ethel threw red dust into his face with her other hand.

His gasp inhaled it into his mouth, his throat, his lungs.

And it stung.

And _burned_.

Jimmy Darling scrambled into a sitting position, clutching at his chest.

And coughed.

And coughed and coughed and coughed.

He coughed until his face turned red and he wheezed and gasped for breath.

Ma stayed close, her face set and expressionless as she watched him. Suzi's face, further back, alarmed and fearful.

Jimmy coughed until he saw spots swimming before his eyes and felt the darkness of unconsciousness pressing in on him.

_Ma's killed me. With red, burning dust poison. Why, Ma, why?_

He coughed until he felt salvia thick with moist bits working their way up from deep within him, up his throat, and into his mouth. And he had to spit them out into his much used and abused handkerchief.

Finally, little by little, his coughing tapered off.

"Jeez, Ethel, what the hell did you _give_ him?"

Ethel kept her blue eyes trained on her suffering son.

"Chili powder."

Suzi seemed astounded.

But no more than Jimmy himself.

_Damn, Ma._

He leaned back against the wall, weak and trembling.

And breathing easier.

Then Ma opened up his cupboard and put down a cup.

And made her son a hot toddy. Hot water, honey.

And whiskey.

As she offered it to him, he reflexively shied away.

"Ma," he wheezed weakly. "You said 'never'."

She shrugged, shaking her head.

"No, son, this ain't drink. It's medicine. Help you rest and sleep after coughing all that stuff up."

He frowned at the steaming cup.

Ethel Darling smiled at him, her kind eyes crinkling.

"Trust your ma now, Jimmy."

And so he did.

* * *

Jimmy Darling sat outside, his scrawny frame bundled up in freshly cleaned off chair.

Face turned up to the winter sun.

Breathing deeply.

"You're going to freeze if you stay out here," a heavily accented voice declared, not quite unkindly. "And then where will I find another good-looking, smart-mouthed, lobster boy for Fraulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities?"

Jimmy opened a squinting eye to find Elsa Mars standing a few feet away, thick fur coat and hat protecting her from the constant Wisconsin winter chill.

He shrugged.

"Well, you won't, Elsa. Ain't none like me but me. You'll just have to do without."

He was weak and tired but still well enough to cast a dimpled smirk her way.

Because it just felt so damn good to be able to _breathe_.

Elsa did not return his smile.

But her eyes did.

"I hear your mama gave you the chili powder treatment," she commented airily.

Jimmy rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, nearly killed me too."

She shrugged off his self-assigned pity.

"Got the sick out of your stubborn self, though, didn't it?"

He acquiesced with a nod.

And Elsa Mars finally smiled.

"Always do what your mama says, boy. That's what they're there for."

And then she left him to soak up the winter sun.

And breathe.

* * *

**Hello, all! Got a four day weekend here (hello, snow days!) and thought to myself, hey, didn't I used to write words and stuff? ;)**

**So here it is. Hope it made you smile and hug your mama. **

**See you tomorrow for the final chapter of this story. I think the snow just might melt. For _them_ anyway. **

**Thanks to brigid1318, the1upguy, Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape, and Gracious Guest (I sure hope you are feeling better, sweetie) for your ongoing reviews. **


	15. March Madness

I do not own American Horror Story: Freak Show.

And I fear winter will never end.

A Winter in Wisconsin

March Madness

* * *

The Wisconsin winter dragged on and on without any foreseeable end in sight.

The days and nights moved in their courses in the most repetitively dull, excruciatingly mind-numbing cycle Fraulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities had ever experienced.

Suffocating summer swelter had nothing over this forlorn frigid foreverness.

Snow didn't really seem to fall so much anymore so much as just _sit_ there and _stare_ at them.

And Jimmy, along with all the others, was absolutely _sick_ of staring back.

* * *

And so the days of frozen February wandered on into miserable March.

Then as teasingly as a burlesque star fluttering aside a strategically placed plume, something revealed itself.

Jimmy was shoveling snow (_again_) when he noticed it. And realized he'd been listening to it for sometime without being aware that he was.

_Drip._

And he thought of busted water pipes.

_Drip._

And spilled breakfast cups.

_Drip._

And lazy rain drops.

He looked around.

Dropped the shovel.

And ran for it.

"Ma! Elsa! It's melting! The snow is _melting_!"

Both women smiled at him. Like mothers accommodating an overexcited child.

"Yes, Jimmy, it is," Ma admitted, a little smile on her bearded face.

And Elsa sighed.

"But then tonight, it will freeze again. And we'll be right back where we were. Frozen."

Jimmy's excitement and eagerness faded before the unwelcome revelation.

And sure enough, that night, all the drips and drops refroze.

And turned back to ice.

Just like they said it would.

* * *

They saw a brown bear one day during water patrol.

The ever helpful Paul of course immediately devised a strategy.

"Go kill it, mate. We'll eat like kings for _weeks_."

Jimmy couldn't respond because the bear turned and stared right at them. Fear struck deep that they might be mauled to death or at the very least he'd need to change his shorts when all was said and done.

But the powerful beast snorted steam from his nostrils and shuffled on. As if they were too pathetic to be bothered with eating.

Maybe they were.

* * *

Just as they were beginning to think they were doomed to live out their days forever in the frozen wasteland of the snow-buried Wisconsin tundra, their luck finally changed.

It happened one afternoon as he, Paul, and a few roustabouts were sitting huddled around a wheezing, moaning shamble of a heater, playing poker.

So they wouldn't have to pretend not to be watching the melting snow and listening to the drips and drops of the cruelly teasing meltings.

It was the most cut-throat card game Jimmy'd ever been a part of.

The stakes were high.

Brutally high.

Nothing so pointless as pennies or strip down.

No, not these devilishly feverish men.

They were betting against all the riches they owned.

Water patrol.

They sat, shivering, and huddled up against their cards.

"Man, I miss Florida," Jimmy mumbled against the constant chill.

Paul, ever the one to look on the bright side of life, snorted in derision.

"Oh _really_? You miss hurricanes, lightning storms, and straight line winds?"

Jimmy snorted at him.

"No, I miss being able to feel my _balls_!"

They all burst out in shivering laughter, their breaths puffing out into the chilled air like little clouds of ice.

"Oh yeah, this winter's been a challenge, make no mistake," Paul admitted evenly. "But we've managed alright, I think."

Jimmy tossed him an irritated glare.

"Sure, freezing solid for months and months. Hunting for our food and fighting off wolves like cavemen. Like that?"

Paul shrugged amicably at the boy.

"Eh, what can you do? Sometimes life just throws shit at you and you can't do anything about it. Dignity is about how you _deal_ with that shit, mate."

Against his will, those words struck Jimmy like a load of bricks to the heart. He felt the weight of them, depth and sincerity of them.

And he knew he was in the presence of a good, wise man. A much better man than he.

Silence reigned over the card game, nobody quite daring to speak and break the sanctity of the moment that had descended upon them with the soothsayings of the short-armed, tattooed Englishman.

Then one of the roustabouts cleared his throat, appearing just as affected by Paul's words as Jimmy was.

And absolutely refusing to show it.

"Oh, lookie here, boys, Paul's gone all philosophical and spiritual. Have to open up his own 'Mystic Miss' show now, I reckon."

That broke the emotional tension none of them were willing to admit and they laughed again.

The game continued on for awhile until another unexpected event presented itself in the form of one tiny, nearly baldheaded member of their group.

Who excitedly slapped down his hand.

"Meep!"

And the gathered men stared in mute horror at the cards on the table.

The pair of black eights and a pair of black aces. And a fifth red suit card Jimmy couldn't quite see clearly.

The little geek grinned happily around his dumbfounded audience, believing they were stunned and impressed at his poker prowess.

"Meep!"

He was partially right.

Unbeknownst to him, the egg adoring freak had just presented the entire group of superstitious carnies with a dead man's hand.

The very hand Wild Bill Hickok had been holding when he was shot dead in the back by 'Crooked Nose' Jack McCall in Deadwood, South Dakota in 1876.

Very bad luck indeed.

Death cards.

"Meep?"

Jimmy chewed his lower lip in contemplation for a second then burst forth in surprise, pointing out the window.

"Whoa, Meep! Is that _Bigfoot_?!"

The little man jerked around and craned his neck to see out of the smeary window.

The others did as well. Then, seeing nothing there, looked back at Jimmy in puzzlement.

Jimmy, meanwhile, had taken the opportune moment to reach out a fused hand and deftly snatch the top ace from the pile. And toss his eight of diamonds down in its place.

Thus turning Meep's infamously dark hand into something much less ominous and foreboding.

And was nonchalantly scratching his left ear when Meep turned back to him, baffled.

"Meep?"

Jimmy shrugged.

"No? Oh, well. Guess he ran off."

Cast an innocent glance at Paul who grinned knowingly.

And turned his attention to the cards strewn upon the scarred table.

"Hey, look, Meep! You've got a full house! Way to go, mate!"

He did indeed. The final hidden card had been the ace of hearts.

They had just settled comfortably down to another game of five card draw when the trailer door creaked open and Elsa Mars' fur hatted head came into view.

She spoke for once without preamble.

"I've found us another place in Florida. We have to pack up and leave as soon as possible. The snow's melted enough we can push it out."

The men sat stunned before this new revelation.

Finally Jimmy spoke.

"Tampa?"

Elsa stared irritably at him as if the destination were unimportant. Which it was.

"No. St. Petersburg. Very close to Tampa."

They sat as if finally frozen to Wisconsin after months and months of desiring to escape.

Elsa raised her eyebrows at them and then turned away, waving her hand dismissively.

"Unless you wish to _stay_ in this godforsaken wasteland. I hear it is supposed to snow again in two days' time."

She slammed the door closed again and was gone.

They sat there a moment longer, statues in the icy trailer.

Then they dropped their cards and scrambled all at once.

* * *

"We never did . . . ice . . . fish."

Jimmy let _that_ confusing sentence linger in the chilly air for a bit. Mostly because he was too busy huffing and puffing trying to push the rumbling truck out of yet _another_ ice filled pothole.

He'd fished before, of course, who hadn't? But did people really fish for _ice_ up here? Wasn't it enough that it was all over the ground? Did they really have to search under it for ice too?

"What . . . the . . . hell's . . . ice fishing?"

Paul didn't respond right away. He was too busying rearranging the slates under the tires.

They'd all be easy and fine once they got onto the main road. It was less than half a mile away.

They'd be fine if they could just _get_ there.

And they would. They _had_ to.

Because Jimmy wanted to go _home_.

And so did everyone else. They were, all of them, working to get there. Elsa was yards away, steering one truck, Suzi at her side in the cab. Ma in another on their other side, keeping ever patient company with the excited, blabbering Salty and Pepper.

The roustabouts and Jimmy and Paul were pushing and laying down slats to keep the tires out of the slosh as much as possible.

Paul banged now on the side of their truck.

"Okay, Evie! Nice and slow there, yeah?"

Evie waved from the driver's seat and pressed slowly down on the accelerator, her face a mask of sober determination.

The aged vehicle finally moved and Jimmy trotted along behind it, side by side with Paul who resumed his previous train of thought.

"Ice fishing, yeah. You sit out on a frozen lake, cut a hole in the ice and drop a line down it and wait for the fish to bite."

It hadn't been too difficult to break camp. Back in early November, they'd spent a few days pulling down all the absolutely unnecessary tents and decorations in preparation for the _real_ winter they didn't realize they would be so desperate to escape come March.

And now Jimmy had discovered yet another mindboggling fact about their frozen north.

"You sit . . . and stare . . . at a hole . . . in the ice?"

Paul nodded without answering. Then swore under his breath.

The truck was stuck again.

They resuming pushing until Jimmy could see spots.

Still, he just couldn't get the thought out of his mind.

_Damn, they really _are_ crazy up here._

"So . . . whaddya . . . say . . . mate?" Paul grunted as he pushed. "Wanna . . . blow this . . . popsicle stand . . . and . . . give it . . . a whirl?"

_Florida. Sunshine. Warmth._

"Push harder, Paul."

They did and the truck eased forward.

Jimmy lost his balance and stumbled forward into the slushy mess.

And heard a familiar high pitched call drifting on the frozen air.

"Jimmy! Are you okay?"

He looked up and saw his tiny Indian warrior princess even now in her rabbit fur coat leaning out of the passenger window of Evie's truck.

Jimmy faked a scowl at her.

"Get back in that _cab_, Ma Petite! You'll fall out into snow drift and we'll _never_ find you! You'll have to tunnel around under the snow like a little groundhog until _July_!"

She giggled with a hand over her mouth and ducked back into the truck.

Jimmy rose to his feet and heard another familiar sound behind him.

"Meep!"

Turning around, he saw his little bundled snowman friend clamoring toward him, triumphantly holding two small ovals straight up over his head in his thickly gloved hands.

Eggs.

Bird eggs.

God only knew how he had found them under all this snow and ice.

But the little man's huge needle-toothed grin was undeniable.

He had his winter souvenir and he was proud.

Jimmy threw out his own hands in frozen exasperation.

"What the _hell_? Get in the damn _truck_, Meep!"

And flung a gloved hand in the direction of the slow moving truck in front of him, unable to entirely refuse the smile that broke over his numb face.

"Meep!"

* * *

**And that's that, my friends. **

**I believe they got to Florida safe and sound. I believe they were more than thrilled to be where it was warm and sunny after such a harsh winter.**

**And I believe they had some good times (along with some bad times) before they reached Jupiter in 1952 and all hell broke loose. **

**Farewell, my beautiful freak family. I enjoyed you while I had you.**

**And most sincerely, rest in peace, Ben Woolf. Your brave spirit was inspiring to me and I pray you are now at peace. I know your students will miss you as will your friends and families.**

**Thanks to brigid1318, the1upguy, The Cry-Wank Kid, Gracious Guest, Jurana Keri, and Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape for all your supportive reviews with this rambling tale. You're the best! :D**

**Thanks as well to the silent readers of this story and I hope you all find joy in whatever you do. **

**See you again sometime and happy reading! :D**


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